Modern Equality is also for Men

Knowledge of gender on a scientific basis is all too rarely involved in the important discussions on how to create a more equal society. And this is especially true when we talk about boys and men.

Because equality is surely a feminist matter — is it not? Yes — equality has traditionally been a feminist issue and it has its natural reasons. For historically, it has obviously been women who needed to claim to be equal to men. From a historical perspective, it was not so many years ago that women simply did not have the same rights as men. And men in many ways had power over women — the father above the daughter and husband over his wife. Since then, women have increasingly acquired the same rights, and in today's Denmark women and men are formally placed on an equal playing field.

Today, therefore, equality is very little about legal rights. Gender equality policy has shifted its focus as we have gained equal rights, but also because we have gained a new understanding and insight into what gender is — because equality policy is by definition linked to the way we perceive gender. It is now very well described in science that gender is not only something we are, but also something we do. From the time we are born as human beings, we meet with different expectations of how we should act, depending on whether we are born an Adam or an Eve — if I may be so free and draw a cautious parallel with my other ministerial area.

Among other things, it has been scientifically proven that toddler parents speak differently to their newborn grafts, hold them differently, comfort them differently, etc. — depending on whether the little new one is a girl or a boy. The result of such a different influence will be that the two sexes often become very different. Many of today's women, for example, have come in with breast milk, that they must be caring, considerate and diligent, while we men have often learned to be physical, forward-thinking, and capable. It places some restrictions on what is possible for us — or what seems possible. The norms mean that we perceive ourselves in a certain way and that it therefore seems wrong to do something different from what we ourselves and others expect. The standards also mean that if you step outside the normal understanding of how to act, you are considered a deviant.

Forget about the victim role

Today, therefore, equality is instead about what can be called real equality — or real equal opportunities. Modern equality is about women and men not being constrained by the stereotypical expectations of what one should, can and must do to be a 'real' girl, boy, man or woman — or that one should not put up with being treated in a certain way because of one's gender.

This development has the natural consequence that equality is no longer just about women, but also about men. After all, it is not only girls and women who experience being constrained by their own or others' stereotypical expectations. Men and boys do that at least as much. Just look at the men who abstain from taking maternity leave because they know that in their workplace they are looked at in a bad way — 'real men don't go on maternity leave'. Or the boys who live in a kind of anti-school culture because 'real boys' don't spend time reading homework.

We are currently in the midst of a development in which we are moving from the fact that in recent years we have actually known that equality is also, of course, about men, to actually putting it into practice. Indeed, there is still some fear of touching on taking the step fully and making gender equality policy a matter of both sexes and not just of women. Part of the answer to the touch anxiety lies in the fact that equality has often been about victimising women in the past. Many men may find it difficult to see themselves in a similar victim role — and I think that also applies to many women.

Another important reason for the lack of focus on men and gender equality stems from a lack of knowledge about men from an equality perspective. For many years, much of gender equality research has been centred on women. One of the most foremost tasks is to ensure increased knowledge about boys, men and gender equality. This is essential if men are to be able to enter the sphere of equality further and that we can address the specific challenges that men struggle with.

Unspeigable allegations

The debate on gender and gender equality is all too often based on the individual's feelings and personal experiences. Knowledge of gender on a scientific basis is all too rarely involved in the important discussions on how to create an even more equal society. And, as I said, this is especially true when we talk about boys and men. This is particularly true when the last few years have discussed the boy's increasingly obvious problems in primary and lower secondary schools, education system in general. Most people have become increasingly aware that we must and must do something to get boys back on the education track and that we have a duty to look at why our boys are too often mistrived in schools.

But the solutions seem too often taken out of the air and out of unspearable claims. Many have said that the boy's problems are due to the fact that there are far too many women in primary school — boys do not thrive in the feminized neat and neat universe that the female teachers were supposed to bring with them.

Boys — as well as girls — thrive with good teachers, whether the teacher is female or male. There is no evidence to suggest that the boys' problems are due to a so-called feminisation of primary school and that there is a need for a research boost among those who have to solve the challenges.

The good life

We must gradually get to a point where we must take the step fully and realise that equality is for and is about both sexes. Gender equality is about looking at the problems experienced by either men and boys or women and girls. And often it's definitely not the same. Gender plays a role in our lives and the world, and they create structural differences that are statistically evident. We have been discussing women in management, women on boards, violence against women, women and equal pay, etc. for many years — because these are some of the places where women's lack of equality is most evident. And, of course, we still have to work on all this.

But we need to open up the perspective and look at the particular problems facing men and boys. For example, we know that men drink more than women, they smoke more, they commit suicide more often, are much more often homeless, are more overweight, eat more unhealthily, are less educated, have a higher mortality rate than women of all age groups — and live on average four years shorter than women!

Going forward, we need to be much better at finding solutions to these problems. We need to look at how men are given the opportunity to be men in many different ways and not just in one stereotypical way. Men must be guaranteed the opportunity to prioritise their family, increase their attachment to their children, for example, by taking maternity leave without looking at them in a bad way. That is why we in the government have also announced that part of the leave should be earmarked for men. But it doesn't stop here. Solving the problems requires a much broader look, looking at how we can change limiting gender roles and helping boys and men to better lives.

For the individual, the goal is basically to have a real opportunity to live the good life. But is there anything that stands in the way of this? And how do we fix it? What's it going to take? I hope that we — together with the World Cup think tank and others who may wish to participate constructively in this debate — can help to continue to work on this.